The Almighty Ring

“That’s me,” said Jiang Fei in perfect English. He had been “taught” by 0541 of the world’s languages hence, allowing him to understand and speak to the blond woman.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jiang Fei. I am Liona, the manager in charge of Sector A3 of the Mutant Brotherhood. It is my duty to guide during this trip of yours,” said Liona as she reached out her fair hand to Jiang Fei.

“Likewise. Thank you for coming to get me,” said Jiang Fei as he shook Liona’s hand and followed her into the car.

Both Mutants, as well as the martial artists of China, had an aura around them that could easily be detected if they were not careful to hide it. In this car, there was no reason to hide. 0541 could easily detect and analyze the aura, revealing that Liona was a Level 4 Mutant.

Liona did not look any older than twenty years old. That made her a powerful Mutant since she had achieved Level 4 at such a young age. However, it was not uncommon to see strong mutants appearing here and there. In China, however, if one was a Level 4 fighter, one would already be of the age of forty or fifty. If someone, excluding Jiang Fei, was able to train oneself to reach Level 4 by the age of thirty, he or she would be deemed as the next superstar amongst the martial artists.

Mutants were different as their powers and talents were born. Once their powers awaken, give and take a year or two, he or she would be able to fully master their powers. Hence, it was not strange to see someone as young as ten at Level 4.

While that was the case, there was a downside. One’s power was given. It cannot be trained but mastered. No matter how much one trained their powers, if their power had a limit, it would be impossible to surpass that limit. Martial artist were all normal humans to begin with. Their powers grew with training and although it was improbable, it was still possible to achieve Level 5 by pure training.

“Mr. Jiang Fei. You must be tired from your journey. We have already gone ahead and postponed your welcome party to tomorrow night. Please rest in the hotel that we have arranged for you,” said Liona whilst smiling courteously. They had not expected Jiang Fei to come with his master. As all their man power were used up during the preparation of the Uranium, none of them had the time to prepare for Jiang Fei’s arrival.

“Understandable,” said Jiang Fei. Liona’s idea was perfect since Jiang Fei had not been getting enough rest due to the time zone difference. He had not slept for more than twenty hours and was dying to rest.

They made their way to Los Angeles and reached a grand hotel by nightfall. At that moment, Jiang Fei couldn’t care less about the beauty of the hotel. All he cared for was to have a good shower and sleep. Even so, he was careful enough to let 0541 to scan for any suspicious activities before he rested.

It was already past 9 am by the time Jiang Fei woke up. After a nice bath in the large, overly decorated bathroom, Jiang Fei ordered hotel service for breakfast. Before he could even put on any clothes, the hotel service crew had arrived at his doorstep with trays of food ready to be served. At the same time, Liona was informed by the hotel crew that Jiang Fei was up and was having his breakfast.

After breakfast was done, Liona came to his room and invited him out.

“Mr. Jiang Fei. The welcoming party is tonight. Before that, we have the entire day to ourselves. Would you like me to show you around?” asked Liona with the same courteous smile. She had a purpose. Her goal was to understand Jiang Fei as a person and inform the higher-ups of the Mutant Brotherhood before the welcome party.

“Sounds good to me!” said Jiang Fei as he happily accepted the invitation. It was the first time he had set foot in America and he had wanted to experience what it was like to walk down the same streets where most western movies were shot.

Throughout the day, Liona was constantly talking to Jiang Fei, trying her best to understand his attitude. She wanted to know what kind of character did the China Martial Artist Alliance had asked him to be. Even though they were about to become allies in fending off the Japanese, it was still safe to understand what lay behind that mask.

America had taken the liberty to become the world police and overseer. The same goes for the Mutant Brotherhood. They would always want to be the leader in any given situation. The Europe Vatican church had been a good partner for many years and they had always been cooperative. The Chinese, however, had their own means and methods. From the Mutant Brotherhood’s perspective, they feared that the Chinese would take their own course of actions without thinking about the execution and aftermath.

After Liona casually asked many questions about China, Jiang Fei had only responded simply, with shrugs. Jiang Fei did not intend to hide but he genuinely did not understand how the Martial Artist Alliance thought. Even though he had the Honorable Elder title in the alliance, he did not know who was running the alliance and who the real leader was. Even though he had met many of the leaders and representative of the sects, he was still clueless about how the alliance worked.

After the tour around Los Angeles ended, Liona sent Jiang Fei back to the hotel and went on her way.

“Any news?” Shroder asked as soon as Liona entered the meeting room.

“Nothing. The boy’s lips are sealed.”

“That’s not possible. The boy should be an open book with your techniques. He is just a new leaf!” said Shroder.

“Never underestimate the Chinese. They may be plain in sight but hiding behind those masks are faces that can terrify the world.” said a middle-aged man who had just walked into the meeting room.

“Lord Desir!” cried Liona and Shroder.

“Please sit. I want to hear from both of you about this young boy called Jiang Fei,” said Desir as he sat down on a larger executive chair.

“Jiang Fei was able to position himself in the high tables amongst the others in the alliance due to his mysterious master. It has been said that he had gained unnatural strength through his master’s teaching. However, the boy was as green as a seedling. I’ve known him enough to know that he is still naive,” said Shroder.

“I don’t think so. The boy was crude and uncivilized. ‘Naive’ is just sugarcoating it!” said Liona. She had been with Jiang Fei for the entire day and was able to understand him.

“Hmm,” Desir wondered. As the handler of any foreign administrative, he trusted his underlings fully. Hence, he did not think that Shroder and Liona were telling lies. However, it was odd since both Shroder and Liona had given different opinions about the boy.

“I believe you, Shroder. However, I would trust Liona’s judgment on this matter. The Chinese had always been sneaky. It is best to keep your guard up every time you deal with them. You don’t want to fall into their traps,” said Desir. Like any white man, his opinion about China had always been biased.

“I understand. But I am sure of my opinion of Jiang Fei,” said Shroder. He had nothing to suspect about Jiang Fei, especially since he had saved him.

“Very well. I’ll save my judgment until I see him later,” said Desir. Shroder was still a Level 4 mutant. It was best to not offend the man directly.